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Published: Dec 15, 2015
Pitzer College
William Vasta/Courtesy of Pitzer College

Pitzer College
Claremont, Calif.

Money Best Colleges rank: 196
Overall acceptance rate: 14.5%
Female rate: 12.7%
Male rate: 17.7%
Difference: 1.4x higher for men
Gender on campus: 60% women/40% men

Pitzer College doesn’t aim to have a 50/50 gender ratio on campus but sees some balance as important. That's harder to achieve with the difference in the number of prepared women and men applying to liberal arts colleges, says Jamila Everett, interim vice president for admission and financial aid. “There’s a decreasing amount of college-ready men in the pipeline,” she explains. Pitzer focuses on making sure its recruitment materials don’t alienate men from applying, by, for example, letting prospective male students hear from current ones, so they see how they would fit in on campus. Men's odds of acceptance can also vary by geography; applicants from New York and D.C. already tend to be well-represented on campus, while students from other regions are often in shorter supply.